Andy & Ari On3 - CFB's MOST CONSEQUENTIAL Moments: Why Penn State, LSU, & Miami could’ve completely changed the game | Drafting the Top QBs since 2000

Episode Date: May 22, 2026

Before Andy & Ari get into the long holiday weekend ahead, the guys are ready to send you into the weekend with a fun mailbag episode here. As the theme for this week’s mailbag revolves around moments that could’ve changed everything in the sport, and we have some great suggestions from listeners. After the mailbag segment, the guys draft their top quarterbacks in college football as producer River joins. A great episode you won’t want to miss   (0:00) On Today’s Episode (0:52) Presenting Sponsor (2:35) Intro: Moments that could’ve changed it all (4:18) Penn State vs Ohio State: 2017 & 2018 (13:55) 2007’s Madness on December 1 (21:44) Manny Diaz and Miami on 4th & 14 vs Florida State in 2021 (32:15) QB Draft: Round 1 (36:56) Round  2 (42:09) Round 3 (47:11) Round 4 (51:29) Round 5 (57:36) Who did we miss? (1:02:52) Full List (1:03:30) Closing Out - See you Tuesday!   After Dear Andy & Ari, be sure to stick around for the top quarterbacks draft. Be sure to let us know who we left out!   Thanks for watching! Have a great Memorial Day weekend!   Send your questions to: [e-mail] [e-mail] Our show is also presented by BetMGM!   If you haven’t signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code CFB and you will get up to a $1500 First Bet Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! Here’s how it works:   1. Download the BetMGM app and sign-up using bonus code CFB. 2. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. 3. You will receive up to $1500 in bonus bets if your bet loses! Just make sure you use bonus code CFB when you sign up!   Make this college football season one for the history books. Make it legendary.   See BetMGM.com for Terms. 21+ only. This promotional offer is not available in DC, Mississippi, New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET (Available in the US) . 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR). First Bet Offer for new customers only (if applicable). Subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 7 days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel   Watch our show on YouTube!    Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman Producer: River Bailey   Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail]   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today's Andy and Ari on 3 presented by Bet NGM, the hidden stakes games, the sliding doors games, whatever you're going to call them. It is a theme, dear Andy, dear Ari. What are the games that changed college football in ways we didn't realize at the time? You've written in with some incredible examples, and Ari and I will break them down and then figure out what the heck would have happened had it turned out a little bit differently. it's going to be so much fun. Plus, we draft the top quarterback since 2000 best QBs of the 21st century draft. This one will be highly controversial. And I have a feeling it will be eye of the beholder when it comes to which one of us you think wins. All on today's A&A on 3 presented by BetMGM. We are presented by BetMGM. All the lines and totals you see on this show come from BetMGM. and if you're not already signed up, you download the app.

You sign up using the code CFB. That CFB is in college football. You can get up to $1,500 in bonus bets for doing that. If you are already signed up, there's a lot going on for you this week. The BetMGM hat trick jackpot is still going on. So every NHL playoff game, you have a chance to win a share of $10,000 in bonus bets by placing an anytime goal score wager. And if that player gets a hat trick, so three or more goals, then you can enjoy.

enjoy part of $10,000 in bonus bets, a share of 10,000 in bonus bets. Also, there's an NBA odds boost token running all week. The conference finals matchups are set. You've got the thunder and the spurs. You've got the calves and the Knicks. How are you feel about those? Well, now's a chance if you have a very strong feeling, activate your odds boost and you can wager with boosted on the NBA conference finals. That's all happening at BetMGM. This is all happening at BetMGM. This this week. So make it legendary with BetMGM. See BetmGM.com for terms 21 plus. Only this promotional offer is not available in D.C., Mississippi, New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem called 1-800-Gambler or

1-800-MyeHRESET, available in the U.S. 87788-3-6-9-6-9-3 in New York, 1-800-3-1-800-1-8-0-2002-3 in Puerto Rico. First bet offer for new customers only if applicable, subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus. bets that expire in seven days in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Welcome to Andy and Ari on three presented by BetMGM. This one's going to be so much fun, Ari. On Monday, we were talking about games with hidden stakes, and I brought up the 1979 LSU Florida State game where Bobby Bowden had essentially decided before the game that

if LSU won the game, he was going to go take the LSU job, which had been secretly offered to him and he was going to leave Florida State. If they won the game, he was going to stay in Tallahasse, he stay at Florida State, see what he could build there. We know what happened. The Seminoles won Bobby Bowden, legendary coach at Florida State, incredible historic run. But as that game was going on, only Bobby and Ann Bowden knew what was really at stake. and you, the college football historian, beautiful-brained person that you are, got some ideas. That's right. That's right.

So we threw it out to the listeners and the viewers and said, what are some games that you think, had they turned out differently, would have changed the course of college football history? We've got three suggestions here. Not necessarily, well, one's a coaching search, but two are games. themselves. And the coaching search one involves games. It's fascinating. This is so cool. And we've got our top QBs of the 21st century draft after that. So this is going to be so much fun. This is how you want to get sent into your Memorial Day weekend. So let's start with what John David sent me on Instagram. You mentioned on the show today about moments that could have changed coaching trajectories. A big one among Penn State fans is what if Penn State

beat Ohio State in 2017 and 2018. In 2017 at the horseshoe, Sequin took back the opening kick, and Penn State was up 2817 at the half. They were also up 13-7 in 2018 at the half in Beaver Stadium. It would have paid big dividends on the recruiting trail and may have pushed Franklin's Penn State over the big game hump. Ari, this one is unbelievable because, okay,

let's start with 2017 because Penn State is dominating that game. You were there. Penn State's dominant that game, what, for the better part of three quarters, right? Yeah, for both of those games, it felt, we'll start with 17, but both of those games, having been there, it felt like Ohio State should not have won either of them. So the way it worked out, remember, you're coming off 2016,

where Penn State beat Ohio State, won the Big Ten championship, but did not make the playoff. Because Penn State had lost two non-conference games early in the season. One of them was to pit. What's the other one? I'm blanking.

Oh, no, they lost to one non-conference. Yeah, they lost to pit and they lost to Michigan. So 2017, they're winning this game. And guess what? If they win this game, they're probably going to win the Big Ten. Remember, they lost to Michigan State the following week. But I think if they win this game,

they win the Big Ten East, and they would have beaten whoever came. out of the west most likely but it is it was just fascinating because this this is still a really good Michigan state team remember 2016 Mark d'antoneo signs the really good recruits and it doesn't work out as well as as he'd hoped but then 2017 they come back and it was it was very good and then ohio state obviously was really good that year too Michigan is good that year This is long ago enough where I don't know if it would have made a difference, but if you would have had Penn State winning one of those games,

or both of them would James Franklin still be the coach? I think he would. And I also think it would have changed the trajectory of the other games in that season. Yeah. Because or not in that, in successive seasons. I think Penn State becomes a better. more competitive team at the top of the Big Ten East is not blocked all the time by Ohio State or Michigan. And those three then swap and maybe Penn State.

So in that case, I would say if they win that 2017 game, they probably in the 2017 college football playoff, which that becomes interesting because that's the one where the Big Ten team doesn't make it because Ohio State has the crazy loss to Iowa at the end of the season. And Georgia and Alabama both make it. and they end up playing for the national title. Yeah. I mean, this is kind of fun to think about because if Ohio State would have lost in 17 and 18,

it would have had a dramatic impact on Penn State and its trajectory as a program, not just both in those seasons, but what they built out of the, in the off seasons. Like if they won in 2017, maybe they would have done something in the recruiting ranks in that following year to help them beat Ohio State in 18. Right. Also, what would have been for the end of the Urban Meyer? run and what would have Ryan Day inherited at what yeah well would urban Meyer have have resigned or what do you have said of I got more work to do right so you know

I think that urban Myers entire tenure you know although transformative for Ohio State I still feel like there was some meat left on the bone in terms of what they could have accomplished with the players that they had if they would have lost those two games I think we might even be looking at his entire tenure differently so I'm looking at 17 again the the big 10 East standings. If Penn State wins that game, they win the Big Ten. They win the East. They would have had to play a good Wisconsin team

in the Big Ten championship game. That went 13 and 1, went 9 and 0 in Big Ten play. Yeah. But I think that Sequin, that Sequin, Trace McSorley team beats them. So they would make the play. The question is like,

does Alabama make the playoff? Like does second and 26 ever happened. It might not have ever happened. They might not have made it. Because Clemson's in. Clemson's in the playoff. George is in the playoff.

Oklahoma's in the playoff. Penn State at what would have been, they would have been 12 and 1 with a, like, wasn't it like an overtime loss to Michigan State? It was a very close game. Yeah. They're in over Alabama. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, it's also interesting, too, because Penn State in that year, as you said, turned around and ended up losing the next week in a three-point game. They may not lose that game. Penn State lost two in a row in 2017 after they lost Ohio State. They lost the Michigan State. And then Ohio State lost the next week at Iowa. And I think they probably would have lost the Iowa game anyway because they exploited some

weaknesses with their tight ends that Ohio State didn't account for. But I also buy into the notion of you are so exhausted by what it took to win the Penn State game that you like limp through the following week and that ends up being a bad situation. So, but like the fact of the matter is is that Penn State beat Ohio State two years in a row and just could not close it. And that was part of the reason why the entire stigma of James Franklin existed. Because even when he built teams that were good enough because those 17 and 18 Ohio State were not peak Ohio State. Like they should have, they should have been able to.

able to beat Ohio State during the years where they were still very good, but not excellent. And they did it enough to, like, control those games. And then they blew it in heartbreaking fashion. And I think that that was probably the beginning of what ended up ultimately binding James Franklin's entire tenure there when if they would have just won one of the games or I think it would have taken one. We would look at him. Yeah, we would look at him completely differently.

If the last five years, we would have viewed him differently when he got, like, let's say, 2025. or 2024 where they make the semis and 2025 happen exactly the same way. When they hit the rough patch in 25, there's probably some goodwill going back to before. Yeah. Or maybe, you know,

and here's the other thing too. Maybe if James Franklin wins one of those games, you can't like also acknowledge the fact that James Franklin is a human being. And when the same thing keeps happening over and over and over again, I'm sure it impacted his mental, you know, stability during some of the games in the future. Like it's just. And let's be real that that Saquan Barkley team in 17, if it gets into that playoff and we don't know who

they would have had to play, they probably would have had to play Clemson because they were the number one seat. They would have beaten the crap out of that Clemson team. Yeah. And then they would get the winner of Georgia and Oklahoma. And I don't know if they would have been able to beat the winner of Georgia, Oklahoma, but it would have been fun. Yeah. It would have been a fun game. And the thing that was so tough about the 2017 game too is that that Benjamin Victor play that 47 yard touchdown like was the single greatest play in Benjamin Victor's entire career like I don't like he was a five star prospect I believe in a really tall lanky kid but like he wasn't as productive as we thought he would be

and he just like did something that we weren't even physically that physically we weren't even sure he was capable of and in that setting which set up the 14 point straight points at Ohio State scored in the fourth quarter in the last seven minutes to win the game so yeah there's a lot of these. And then, of course, there's one that has not game-related, which is what if Urban Meyer would have just taking the Penn State job to begin with? And then, like, where would things do? Correct.

Which was, I didn't want to get into that one because of the reason. But Urban Meyer, yes, he resigns at Florida after the 2010 season. He is working for ESPN in 2011. He was talking to Penn State. The Sandusky stuff happens. And that was off the table after that. And obviously, at that point, Jim Tressel's already been forced out at Ohio State. That job's going to be open.

But you could make the case that if that didn't happen at Penn State that maybe Ryan Day is a position coach in the NFL right now. Or Ryan Day would have worked his way up to head coach, but we don't know where. Yeah, or he, I mean, he made of, I'm not trying to take anything from Ryan Day. He might still be one of the top 10 coaches in college football somewhere else. But the Urban Meyer hiring him to Ohio State and then paving the, way for him to take over the program has led to a national championship that would have been ultimately a lot harder for him to achieve that he had to start from ground zero at Iowa State. So like that's like that is crazy.

But it's amazing to me that if Penn State does not blow that lead, we never see second in 26. That doesn't happen. Thanks Penn State. Sorry it hurt, but I'm happy you lost then because that's amazing. That was iconic. It's one of the greatest plays in college football history. But yeah, it wouldn't have happened. Our next one comes from our friend, Chris the Bear Felica from Fox.

He's, we jogged his memory, so he was working at college game day at ESPN at the time. And he says, maybe less miles to Michigan, that idea. And then what unspooled after that, because remember, Rich Rodriguez ends up getting hired by Michigan. But on the day the less miles to Michigan stuff comes out and less miles refutes it, that's the same. day that Rich Rodriguez loses the backyard brawl. So here's what the bear wrote. And he had actually, he pulled this

from a pitch he had made for a 30 for 30 on the 2007 season. And he said, maybe less. That was supposedly done until Kirk Herb Street kind of blew it up on game day on championship weekend when we were in San Antonio. He said, then on championship Saturday, we'll just watch our show that morning.

Report surfaced at Les Miles, who's coaching number five in the SEC championship. game will be head coach at Michigan. Miles holds an impromptu presser to deny it, where he, you know, talks about coaching his damn strong football team and ends up with, have a great day. Then the Tigers go out and win the SEC title. That night, number one, Missouri loses to Oklahoma in the big 12 title game and in what was the most bizarre, flukish, and probable, unthinkable result I've seen in my time at ESPN, number two, West Virginia, a 29 point favorite hosting four and seven pit, with Dave Wonsett said hobbling around on crutches, loses at home to the Panthers 13-9 with a

spot in the BCS championship game on the line. This is the same West Virginia team that was held under 28 points only once that season and beat Pitt 25 or 4527 the previous season. This loss is likely impetus that would ultimately send Rich Rodriguez to Michigan. And then under interim Bill Stewart, the Mountaineers Crush Oklahoma in the Fiestaable and an odd post game scenario, Stuart is offered the job right there. And he was. And I think they signed it in the hotel suite.

Like he signed a contract in the hotel suite afterward. Yeah. So this was all crazy. And so I actually, because the Lloyd Car replacement at Michigan, whoever that was, it could have changed everything. So Rich Rodriguez is an interesting character in this story because remember he had basically taken the Alabama job the year before and then decided to stay at West Virginia because of unfinished business. If they win this game, there's no way he goes to Michigan. I don't know whether Les Miles was going to Michigan. He's always said he wasn't.

But I do know this. And Greg Shiano has told people this. Greg Shiano was offered that job a few days prior. Greg Shiano had met with Bill Martin, the Michigan AD, I think the Wednesday of that week. And was offered the job, took the job. And then he told Sean McDonough before a game in 2021. and McDonough talked about this on the broadcast of it,

it was a Rutgers-Michigan game, that in December 2007, Shiano had said yes to the job, went to bed, couldn't sleep, and called back the next morning and said, I'm sorry, I can't do it. And he ends up staying at Rutgers until,

I think, 2011 when he takes the box job. And so Shiano could have been the Michigan coach. Maybe Miles could have been the Michigan coach. Like if Tennessee had beaten LSU that day, what do you have gone? If he wasn't going to coach LSU the national title game? Well, it's interesting too because the Ohio State of this also comes into play because if they would have lost that game, then maybe Ohio State would have won the national title.

And then also, you have to also remember, too, what winning the championship in LSU beating Ohio State the following year after the Florida loss meant for the entire SECness of college football. Right, right. It reinforced that notion. that then got further reinforced by what, Alabama and Auburn winning the next two seasons. Yes.

Man, that's crazy. I actually forgot about that. I'm sorry, Florida, Alabama, and Auburn in the next three seasons. That's what it was. Yeah. It's wild. So, like, yeah, if Rich Rod wins the backyard brawl, he doesn't go to Michigan.

And I checked with our guy Chris Ballas, and he said that they don't even, know who Michigan would have gone after if not Rich Rod. Now, I think because Rich Rod lost, he then sought out another job. So he was going to Michigan. But the Les Miles thing, remember Les Miles played for Michigan. The idea at that point was you can't, you don't want to go outside the family. Now, obviously, it would have gone outside the family because Greg Shiano had been offered the job and then turned it down. But if Les Miles, so this would have been, I guess, two or three days after Shiano.

This is the press conference Les Miles Gives at the Georgia Dome. Coach has gathered at Atlanta. The news conference is ready to start as they conduct their microphone checks. We will go down there live for Les Miles. There was misinformation on ESPN and I think it's imperative

that I straighten it out. I'm the head coach at LSU. I will be the head coach at LSU. I have no interest in talking to anybody else. I got a championship game. to play and I'm excited about the opportunity of my damn strong football team to play in it. And it's really all I'd like to say. It was unfortunate that I had to address my team with this information this morning. But that being done, I think we'll be ready to play.

There'll be no questions from me. I represent me in this issue. Please ask me after. I'm busy. Thank you very much. Have a great day. Thank you, Coach. Have a great day. That's an affirmation if I've ever heard one, right? That's one of the all-time great press conferences in college football history, by the way. Yeah. That was back in the Manhattan days.

We've learned a lot about him in the time since, but he was the commodity back then. Oh, yeah, yeah. And it was a damn strong football team. Now, it had lost two games. They had lost to Arkansas the previous week. That was the Houston Nuts. getting interviewed and Darren McFadden's going, got that wood. 2007 was a movie.

And that team, I want to take it a 2014 playoff in 2007. Yeah, that would have been a pretty crazy year to have it. But ultimately won the national championship. And, you know, the thing that is also kind of a footnote here, but would have been really cool to see what West Virginia could have been had they made it all the way to the championship and won at all. Like what if they, like, as we go later on, I don't want to like blow it. But there's-

They would have played Ohio State for the championship. Yeah, and maybe Ohio State would have won. Maybe they wouldn't have. I don't know. Ohio State wasn't the, was a beatable team that year, obviously. But, yeah, they were not as talented as the Urban Meyer teams or the Tressel team that won the national title in 2002. And it's a shame because we never really got to see, like West Virginia will forever be associated with the college football video game. And what if, what if they broke through?

And it's a shame because, like, they really were. so iconic to kids my age. In 2007, I was, you know, 19 years old. Like West Virginia was teen shit. White or Steve Slayton. Hell yeah. Yeah.

And, you know, we have a quarterback draft coming up. And that, depending on what you value, could be important to you. Yeah. Owen Schmidt. Let me,

let me shout out another member of that team, the full back. Murder you with his bare hands. Yeah. All right, Ari. This is another fun. And by the way,

I'm going to be on the hard count with J.D. Piquel. he actually brought this up several weeks ago and we just couldn't get our schedules together. And he wanted to do a sliding doors conversation. Now, he wants to do some more recent ones. Like, what if Bryce Underwood had stayed committed to LSU and not gone to Michigan? That's fun.

It's very cool thing about the sliding doors is that it turns into like a glass breaking effect where like it goes everywhere. Like it's like you're talking about LSU and Michigan. It's like, well, what would happen to West Virginia? Well, this one's going to blow your mind. And this is one, I certainly didn't think about it while I was happening, didn't think about it right afterward, didn't really think about it until I got Eric's email the other day. So I want you to cast your memory back. You probably don't remember watching this game. You probably did watch it, though, because it was a good game.

But let's all look back on the 2021 floor. Florida State Miami game. So this is what Eric wrote to me. You're hypothetical about Bobby Bowden and Urban Meyer slash Chris Leak got me thinking. It is well documented that had Manny Diaz beaten Florida State in 2021, which Florida State had a miracle conversion to win. Manny stays because he's won five games in a row, and Mario Cristobal is never offered the job. You have a great show? Thanks for everything.

Eric. Okay. So Eric wrote that it was the last game of the season. last game of the season. It was the, I believe, third from the last. But he is correct that if Mani wins this one, they do in the season on a five game winning streak. And I'm not sure they do anything with him because they do win their other games. And so this would put them at eight and four. I know where this is. And in a hell of a trajectory. So here's this. I Here's what happened at the end of that game.

Miami's up 2820 in the fourth quarter. Flores sake scores a field goal with 443 left to cut the score to 2823. And then on the last drive with 26 seconds left, they score a touchdown and then they get the two-point conversion to go up three because you want to go to three. But they go seven plays, 80 yards in a minute 53. there was a 24-yard pass for Travis to Andrew Parchment on fourth and 14 that set up first and goal. So like if they stop the fourth and 14, if Miami stops the fourth and 14, Manny Diaz is probably still Miami's coach.

Mario Cristobal is at Oregon still, maybe. Where does Dan Lannin coach? Also, we've seen what Manny can do. at a school that does NIL well, I would say you can argue that Duke, given its previous place in the college football world, and then what we've seen in the NIL era under Mike Elko and Manny Diaz, that Duke is pretty good at the NIL era.

So we've seen that. Miami has been all in in the NIL era. So would Miami have gone as all in with Manny as they did with Mario? because I'm sure they had to promise Mario that to get him to come. Yeah, I don't know. I don't remember what the following season would have been like, but wouldn't what we know about Mario Cristobal now, even if he were at Oregon,

like if, if Mandy Diaz got fired a year later, he still would have taken the job a year later, right? Like Mario would have walked up in his family's there and everything. But here's the other thing. Oregon's all in on NIL too. Would Mario have gone to a national title game with Oregon? Maybe. Maybe. Or maybe you make the case that Mario has needed all these years to get to a place where he was ready for last year. Like, I don't know. I think the most interesting thing about this, because I still think that even if that would have happened, that today, as we're recording this, that Mario Cristobal would still be the head coach at Miami.

I don't know. I think if Mani gets the resources Mario got, which maybe they wouldn't have done that. Now, remember, it's funny, Kirk Herb Street comes up again in this one. part of the reason they did it was Kirk Herb Street going off on Miami on college game day during that 2021 season, basically saying you don't take football seriously. I'm paraphrasing here, but essentially accusing them of not caring about football enough. And they're like, we'll show you how much we care about football. Yeah. It's funny now, though, because the fourth and 14 miracle that happened in that. moment actually is the best thing that could have ever happened to Miami. It was painful losing

to arrival that way. But like I ask every Miami fan now if they're happy that that happened. Because, you know, it does open the door for things. But I do find that fascinating. Now, let's go to the other piece of this. Yeah. Where does Dan landing? Yeah. Dan Landing would have been a hot candidate. Who, what other jobs were open when Oregon hired him? Do you remember? It was a, it was a lot. Now, here's the thing some of those had already been filled so like that that was the year florida was open it was already filled ls uxsssd was already filled oklahoma was already filled so the biggest jobs had already been filled by the by the time organ opened so we we can safely assume that dan landing would

not have been hired for those because he wasn't hired for those so but dan landing probably wouldn't have left had oregon not come open because he was such a hot commodity right he made They may stay at Georgia for another year and then hop into the next cycle. And then the next cycle would have been, you know, another opportunity to go to a place that might be much better off now. Now, you know. Yeah, because this is like the last job of the cycle. Yeah. So, yeah, like these individual results that change the entire course of history are so fun.

Now I got to look at what the, the 2023 first year coaches were because that was. that would he would have he would have gotten a job in that cycle because you're right he would not have uh he just wasn't gotten because Notre Dame got filled immediately by Marcus Freeman Andy 20 yes I did I did it for you you know it came open in 23 what's that Bama no no he'd have been gone by then you're you're thinking after 23 we're talking about after 22 oh after 22 okay Oh, okay. Okay, so here are the jobs that came open in 22,

after the 2022-23 off-season. Wisconsin, Nebraska, Auburn, Colorado, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Mississippi State. He's the Auburn coach. Or maybe Nebraska, he's from Kansas. Yeah. Wow. He could have been Auburn's coach instead of Brian Harsen. Like, imagine if Dan Laining had gone to Auburn instead of Brian Harsen.

They wouldn't have done it the way that Brian Harsen did it. I can tell you that much right now. No. That's not how they would have recruited back then. Well, and how does that change the Iron Bowl? And how does that change the deep south's oldest rivalry with a guy who understood exactly how Nick Sabin and Kirby Smart did it? Whoa. Whoa.

This is, this is the fourth and 14 in a Florida State Miami game in Tallahassee in Tallahassee. does this. Yeah. Like changes the Iron Bowl and changes the deep South socialist rivalry and like, it's so wild. And like,

it would have been, it would have been a perfect hire for them. Nobody, it would have been a layup for Auburn. You would have had Mario versus Kailen DeBore in the Oregon-Washington rivalry, at least for one year. Yeah.

It really would have pinned in how Manny did in 2022 at Miami. Because what if Manny won a bunch of, like what if Manny won the ACC? But then, like you could you could keep going Andy what if Oregon Mario played DeBoer Washington and Oregon Mario beat the bore with the board be the head coach of Alabama right now I don't think so I mean the way he beat because he beat

Dan Lannin. But if Mario would have stayed and they would have been they would have been further along because remember when Dan Lanning took over they weren't they weren't where they were now if they wouldn't have lost a bunch of players and they would have been further along under the Mario build, they might have been more equipped to compete with the Washington team that ultimately went to the championship game. And if they would have beaten them during the regular season, killed that chance, then DeBoer wouldn't be that coach of Bamar. Well, that would have been the second year. Second year. Of DeBoer. Yeah.

This is so much fun, though. This is so much fun. But yeah, the Auburn thing is the most interesting if they were to get landing or what if Nebraska had gotten landing? I feel like it's probably hard for some people to listen to these types of things because like we have tortured like nine different fan bases in the last 30 minutes. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And by the way, Dan Lanning's first meeting with Kalin Nabour was a three-point Washington win. And then, of course, obviously Washington won the two meetings the following year. The following year.

But yeah, would a Mario Oregon team? Because the Mario Oregon teams also had different personality necessarily than the Landon Oregon team. And they might have been, you know, Oregon might have been, I don't know if Mario would have come back for the second year, but maybe Washington never makes the national championship game. Yeah, it's so fascinating. Fourth and 14. One play. One play can change everything.

One play. That was fun. All right. This is going to be fun, too. I got to pull my big board now because we are going to have a draft. I got my pen. Yep. Top football quarterback, top college football quarterbacks since 2000.

And you got to remember. This is one of those. That's drafting with us. So like you've got to take that into account when you're drafting some of the quarterbacks that played in 2003 because River was in diaper. Producer River was a baby when, when Eric Crouch and, uh, and Ken Dorsey were plying their trade. Yeah.

But the best part about this guys and Andy referred to it at the beginning of the show, but it's like, what do you value? Do you value championships? Do you value pizzazz? Do you value electricity? Or are you, are you only locked into what the person did? in the offense they were in, or do you imagine what they would be like,

have they played for somebody else? Yeah. And a different era in the 2000s. Not to give anything away here, but like, what if Patrick Mahomes played for Bama? Right. Exactly.

So, but there's a lot of different ways to do it. I do know that all of our lists are going to be incredibly sexy. And I don't know who's going to win, but I already am on the record with my first overall pick because I'm drafting in a more advantageous position today.

Yep. And I guess we could get going, right now if you want but i am taking cam newton uh one one uh which i think is the only pick and i think you guys correct me would you both have taken him i think this is the guy a hundred percent cams can simon is the best college football player ever seen in person i i've often wondered if he hadn't been behind tim tibo at florida and been you know a starter for two or three seasons in college football what that would look like but what he did it to in Auburn in 2010,

I just don't think anybody else could have done. Yeah. Special year for him. It is funny because now we get, enter into a part of the draft where there's like 21 picks for you guys. And I don't know how you're going to go and it's going to shape my entire draft.

So River, your number two. What do you think? All right. Number two pick is going to be a guy. Nope, nope, nope. He thought it. I cross my mind.

But I am going with Tim Tebow. I'm taking Tim Tebow. This guy was the first first real, like, hatred of a quarterback I had being a Tennessee fan. We'll just move that out of the way now. He kicked our ass every time. But, you know, he was just an icon

amongst kids at this age. Like, everyone wanted to be Tim Tebow. I remember my dad was, this is a part of the time when I'm getting competitive in sport, football, basketball, baseball, all of it. And my dad, my dad, you know, always wanted to give the big speeches. He's like, you need to play like Tim Tebow.

I know, I know he's a Florida Gator, but you should play like him. So, you know, naturally I end up wearing the number 15 in high school, middle school. We've shown your highlight tape, River. You were, you were going to knock somebody out. You were throwing all 127 pounds of you at them. And if we were doing a ranking of. post-game podium speeches, he would be 1-1, right? Oh, yeah, after the Ole Miss game in 2008, the apology and the promise, yes.

If I remember correctly, there's like a plaque of that somewhere on a statue, right? Yeah, it is by the statue of him, because they have a statue of Steve Spurger, Danny Werfel, and Tim Tebow, but they've got the plaque with the promise on it. Yeah. That's a great one, and now you've given me two picks in a row, and I think some people are going to love both of these. and some people are going to be so mad that there are a couple guys I left out of this. So I will take with number three overall, I will take Vince Young.

Yeah, lay up. With number four overall, I will take Joe Burrow. Yeah, I mean, who's going to be mad about that? Those are the two that I have written down that you were right. Because there's a couple, and I don't want to give them away in case some of you guys want to let them slip back to me. But, okay, so Vince Young, I was at the Rose Bowl. against USC. It is the most dominant performance

I've ever seen in a single game. I've met Vince Young in person several times. I do not understand how anyone ever tackled him, ever. And I realize, like, you know, his NFL career wasn't that great. He probably wasn't that great of a thrower. But he was a good enough thrower. He was unbelievable. Like, you could have put him in any college offense

and he would have dominated. He's incredible. Joe Burrow, I often wonder what it would have been like if Joe Burrow had been a starter from like his redshirt freshman season on. Now obviously he was in a stacked quarterback room in Ohio State. They picked Duane Haskins over him. Dwayne Haskins ends up being a first round pick. May he rest in peace?

I don't quite, I don't have a problem with that at all. What Joe Burrow did at LSU, now he was a pretty good quarterback in 2018. 2019 is the best season anybody's ever had. and I know he had a lot of talent around him, but a lot of that was him. And you've seen it in the NFL too. Like when he took the Bengals to the Super Bowl, they probably didn't have the talent to belong there, but they were there because of Joe Burrow. He just elevated that team from what was already a good team to the best team ever.

So everybody that's been selected so far has won a national title. Yes. Yes. And now we're about to get into the guys who haven't. Yes. So we'll circle it back to me. So this is my second round pick. I'll be taking Baker Mayfield.

That's the right pick. This is the other one that I was worried people would be mad I didn't take because I don't think I had to go back and look. I'm not sure I remember how awesome Baker Mayfield was. Like when you put yourself back in that moment, he was unstoppable at Oklahoma. even like gave one of the greatest performances I've ever seen in person. He was in 2015 in Knoxville. He connected with Sterling Shepard in overtime, came back to win that game.

Oh, my gosh. I mean, that just kind of, I saw it in person. I was like, I've never seen anything like this. And then for him to just keep it up and play at that level everywhere else he played. Oklahoma's defense doesn't completely collapse in the Rose Bowl. We would have gotten to see him play. I think they would have beaten that Alabama team, the national title game.

And you want to know why? Because they never, Alabama never goes to Tua because Oklahoma's defense is so bad that Jalen Hertz is scoring on them. But I don't know that Alabama's defense would have been able to hold up against Oklahoma's offense. Yeah. I mean, Baker Mayfield had one of the best careers of all time for somebody who never won a championship and it wasn't his fault.

They didn't. He 15,000 passing yards in his career, 70% completion percentage. Like, I mean, it's, you could be. make the case that he's the best career of anybody. And he finished number one when our friend Bill Connell at ASPN did the top 100 QBs of the 2000s, I think there was two years ago. Baker Mayfield finished one in that one. Yeah.

Just a baller and really just a hell of a winner too. And from now on it comes down to what you value. And that's going to be very apparent with me coming up here. My second round pick is Lamar Jackson. I actually think he'd follow me. That's a great one. Lamar Jackson, I think, honestly, I think, you know, Cam Newton might,

Lamar Jackson is the best player I've ever seen play college football. Yeah, unbelievable. And I know that Cam Newton might have been the more physically gifted person from like this size and stature and what he accomplished. But Lamar Jackson watching, it was an appointment television for a team that wouldn't otherwise have been appointed. Like, I might have taken Lamar Jackson in the first round and caused like trauma for people by taking

them over some of the guys. It wouldn't have bothered me a bit. So I was at Alabama Ole Miss in Oxford in 2016. And this is one where Alabama wins to avenge the two consecutive losses. But nobody was talking about that game at all because Lamar Jackson had just eviscerated Florida State in the window before. And so I had spent the entire game on the phone with people from Louisville trying to negotiate an interview with Lamar Jackson. the next day. I was like, guys, I'm not allowed to promise the cover of Sports Illustrated,

but if you put me in front of Lamar Jackson at some point tomorrow, he will be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. And that turned into one of my favorite stories. Meeting Lamar and talking to him that day, I was like, oh, my God, this guy, he's so far ahead of where everybody thinks he is. And that's why, like, during the draft, I just got frustrated with the people talking about Lamar and maybe moving a wide receiver. I'm like, no, no, no. This guy is a quarterback. This guy's going to be awesome at quarterback.

What are we even talking about here? But that was, he was unbelievable. And, and this is like, so similar to Cam Newton guys did not have the talent around. And Cam Newton had better talent around him than Lamar did. Lamar had not a ton. And it was so funny to look back at the pre-draft discourse about how he couldn't plan the league. Anybody who watched that fucking guy play football knew he was going to be an NFL starter. And the guys who played with him and the guys who coached him knew, like, he was going to be fantastic from an X's nose standpoint. Now, it would be cool to see if he gets over the hump in the NFL, but he makes people look silly in the league the way he did in college. Like, he is, you know, one of the best athletes I've ever seen. And now my number three pick might be a reach, but I'm not going to allow him to go through three more picks.

I'm going to take Johnny Mansell for my third pick. Oh, I was wondering which one of us was getting Johnny football because this is, good choice. Yeah, you know, this one might get some hate online. This guy had to be on my list. When you think about guys, like, there's a lot of really good players, but when you think about transcendent seasons, transcendent stories, I know that the off-the-field stuff was hilarious and the Scooby-Doo outfit and all that stuff, but when you watch that guy play football at A&M, he played it with such a dominant confidence. There aren't a lot of players, I think, that have illustrated his ability just naturally. And then you come to find out, too, he was party.

and like I do wonder had he. I think it makes it better. I think it makes it more more compelling that this guy was partying his ass off and putting up these numbers. Guys, in 2012, this is year he won the Heisman. He threw for 3,700 yards. He also led the SEC in rushing. Yeah. With 1,410 yards.

You guys know how many rushing touchdowns he had in 2012? Yeah. He had 21. Like, I thought it was 23, but yeah, 21. One. Andy, was he hungover in the games, too? Like, that's the thing that's crazy. Probably. He was partying the night before.

I don't know. It's a core memory for me. And I wanted to ask you guys, would you have taken him with one of your next three picks? What have you taken him? Probably. Okay. I'm happy.

I reached for him a little bit. I wasn't sure because there are some guys out there that are still out there, don't want to blow it just in case I get lucky. One of them falls back to me. but Johnny Mansell might be, I didn't look at the Bill Connolly list, but we'll probably be outside of the top 10 if I had to guess and I'm taking him fairly early,

but I think he's going to be really good on the list. I needed to have him. So with my third pick, last week we debated a lot of Red River moments. Okay. How many moments have happened in a Red River rivalry? And one of the best ones, but he doesn't get credit for being a sooner,

is Caleb Williams. Yes. taking Caleb Williams. He is, I mean, just the highlights of his Heisman year. Yeah, when they put him in in the Red River game, Texas was going to win that game. Yeah. Yeah, no, Texas had that. And when he came in for Spencer Rattler, you know, the run he had immediately when he came in that game was just unbelievable. So, you know, and you go, he follows Lincoln Riley to USC and has the Heisman year. Some of the plays he was making was just unbelievable. So, A little bit recency bias maybe, but...

No, I have him on my big board. His last year, I think, hurt him. His last year in college hurts him. Because the first year at USC, he was incredible. Unreal. Yeah. But I mean, like from a natural talent standpoint, USC is what hurts him.

He carry, I mean, his ability was special. And I think we're seeing it in the league develop. I had him on my big board. I don't know. I think you might have been able to get him in the next round. Well, you had to fight. No, that you just set me up for two epic picks that I probably would have taken in the second round. I think I know who you're going to take.

First one I'm going to take is Andrew Luck. Okay. If you put Andrew Luck in any of these other offenses we were talking about, his numbers would have been better than anybody else's. Like, you're talking about somebody, maybe not as good of an athlete as Cam Newton or Vince Young, but close. With a better arm. He's so cerebral, though.

He's so unbelievably smart. But he never got credit for the athlete he was. Like if you really want to have fun with Andrew Luck, go back and look at some of the blocks he threw at Stanford. Go back and look at tackles he made when he threw an interception. And they were playing in a really conservative pro-style offense. Like you put him in a tempo offense and just let him sling it. He's putting up numbers that nobody's ever seen before.

Yeah. Yeah. Andrew Luck is like one of the biggest freaks of all time. Yes. Yeah. He was incredible. Like if we brought this to NFL people and said, who are you taking? It would come down to Luck and Cam, basically.

Yeah. Because we've had how many number one overall draft picks have we named so far? Quite a few. Cam Newton, Joe Burrow, Baker Mayfield. Yeah. I'm actually starting to see where our list is going to bother people, though, because there are some names that haven't been. Well, I think there's going to be people who think I got Andrew Luck too low.

Probably. You mean that he fell too far or you drafted him too high? Yeah, he fell too far. Yeah. Oh. Yeah, you think Andrew Luck doesn't deserve to be on in our top 15? But there are some names out there still that haven't been called yet that are. Oh, yeah.

But this is a, and as I make this pick, I'm going to remind everybody, this is based on what they did in college. Because the person I'm going to pick may ultimately wind up being the best quarterback who ever played football. Patrick Mahomes. Interesting. So what he does in the NFL surpasses what he did in college. And he may eventually catch Tom Brady. And he may be the best quarterback who ever played. At Texas Tech, he was a very good quarterback. And I want to just

think about this. It's not Patrick Mahomes' fault that they couldn't play defense. Kind of same thing, Baker Mayfield, not his fault, Oklahoma was terrible on defense. but Texas Tech was horrific on defense the entire time. Like they never got anything out of their defense. And Patrick Mahomes just put up absurd numbers. All you need to do is look back at the duel he had with Baker Mayfield. And he was unbelievable.

You put him on a team that is coached in a way that allows for a good defense that recruits good defensive players. We look at Patrick Mahomes' college career completely differently. So I basically blew up your spot when I, like, theorized about him before the draft. But you'm happy you still got him. Just so you know, Andy, I would not have taken him. Interesting. He was fine.

Because I'm always, there's one person who probably should have already been taken, who because of actions in his NFL career, has not been taken yet. And I'm curious to see if you're taken. I don't know yet. But don't you have another pick? I just took my two. Who's your other one? Oh yeah, luck in, yeah.

Look in Mahomes. Yeah, got it. Yeah. All right. So my fourth round pick, I'm going to go with James Winston. That's a good pick. I'll take James. Yeah, crabble eggs.

He broke the SEC streak of all their championships in a row. He was unbelievable that season. The problem for me with James is his 2013 season was incredible. his 2014 season basically was a preview what we're going to see from him in the NFL which was I am going to try to throw into this window and I do not care if this gets picked off. Yeah, I just love James James and he was good.

He was good enough to warrant, I think, being selected, but just as funny as he is these days, he's got to be the funniest NFL quarterback in the league right now. I mean, he's just one of the funniest guys I've ever seen and an unbelievable talent at Florida State and went into title. But yeah, give me James. This is going to be really difficult for me because I only have two more picks. And as you mentioned, Deshaun Watson is still there.

Yep. There's another Clemson quarterback that has also not been taken. And you have some players that are probably more accomplished. But I'm taking my favorites. I don't care if it bothers me. Yeah, yeah. Number four is Pat White. He will be on my list.

That's my fourth round pick. I don't know where he ranks in the pantheon of college quarterbacks, but he had 6,000 passing yards and 56 passing touchdowns and 4,500 rushing touchdowns yards and 47 touchdown rushes. Like, it's insane. Like, this guy basically defined my entire childhood. And, like, obviously, there's a lot of video game tie into it. But, like, there was nothing more exciting for me than watching Pat White play football

when I was a kid. So I don't know if any of you guys were going to take him. It doesn't matter. These are my last two picks. But I could probably say that Trevor Lawrence turned out to be a better quarterback, right? Like guys like Deshaun Watson played the game at a higher level probably. And obviously they went out to have pro careers and Pat White didn't. But college quarterbacks, when I think of elite peak college playing, Pat White comes to mind.

Do you guys like or hate this pick? I love it. I love it because I'm fine. with you picking your favorite and Pat White changed college football. Everybody wanted to figure out how to run that offense. Everybody wanted to find a quarterback like Pat White. So his impact on the game is undeniable. Okay.

And now my last one is going to be way out of left field. And like I can't have a draft without making you guys scratch your eyes out. This is a person I covered. And there's a lot of Ohio State quarterbacks that might have been considered for this list. I am taking Braxton Miller number five. I knew this was coming. Wow. You're going to get killed for this. Yeah.

You're going to get killed for this. But Braxton, yeah, the guy who didn't even end up playing quarterback his last year in college. Yeah. Because they had better quarterbacks than him. Just go watch his highlight tape if you haven't seen it. I know. Okay. He dragged them. Drag them to an undefeated record in 2012.

Now you, I could have gone. Sacrificed his body in the Orange Bowl the following year. And if it doesn't, If he doesn't sacrifice his body in the Orange Bowl, probably it all works out differently. And you have to think about this, too, of my time on the beat in players I saw after him. I saw Justin Fields. Troy Smith was around. We were aware of Troy Smith's accomplishments in 06.

That could have been a pick. Maybe he'll be one of your picks. I don't know when the Heisman. C.J. Stroud came through. I mean, they had some really, really good players at the quarterback position, but nobody made your jaw drop. This guy made your jaw drop. in the press box, dude. Like, in a way that no players that I've covered have really done in the time since.

And, like, if you look at my list, Cam Newton, Lamar Jackson, Johnny Football, Pat White, and Braxton Miller, there is a low, like, because, like, I think that, like, we look at great quarterbacks so much on how they project to the NFL. And, like, I'm actually proud that three of my five weren't NFL stars. Like, these were pure college dudes. These are guys that college forged them that, like, college football made them. And I don't know.

Again, there's guys on the list that haven't been taken. I don't want to ruin the rest of the draft that are probably in Bill Connolly's top 10 that might have been more appropriate for some people. But we're drafting my personal favorites. And, you know, after the draft is over, I'll tell you some of the other names that I was willing to take. And there was another player that played in the Red River game that hasn't been taken yet that might also fit this list that is much higher and accomplished.

But Braxton Miller, because of my personal experience. I think there's two guys from the Red River rivalry that probably deserve consideration for this list that haven't picked yet. So I know you probably hate it, but that's who I am as a human. I have to make one draft pick that makes everyone scratch their head, right?

You are who you are, Ari. Yeah. You can't change that. I mean, if we would have gone, if we would have kept going, I might not have taken him here. I just wanted them on my list. If there was like top seven,

I might have taken him in the seventh round just to have him. But like, this is it for me. I don't get another opportunity. It's all about the list. What's your last one, River?

My last one is Robert Griffin third at Baylor. Good choice. RG3, the Heisman winning quarterback for Baylor. And, you know, he gets a lot of flack on Twitter these days and kind of cringe on social media, just a little. But I'll take RG3, great talent, unbelievable Heism here. So much fun to watch that, I mean, those offenses were insane. Yeah. He was incredible in him because, you know, it's, they had guys like Florence, Bryce Petty, who could throw in that offense.

but when you put the guy who could run in that office, get after it. I mean, he was he was one of the last few video games on the cover of that they made before they stopped making it. And he, on that video game, he was unbelievable. So I'll close out with RG3, a fun pick.

Andy, who you got? So I'm not picking Deshawn Watson here. Sorry, I just don't want to deal with the guff of that. I don't, I have other really good options. But we all three agree that he's, worthy. Yes. From an accomplishment standpoint, and he was awesome playing for Clemson. He's the best Clemson.

I don't know how you stand on this. It's an interesting point because you don't erase accomplishments and prowess because of off the field actions. Yeah. And he probably is one of the top 10 greatest players to ever play college football at his position. And that doesn't change. He could do anything.

And that didn't change. He still was that person, much like if you were drafting, you know, other players that did that thing is. it's not this, it's not this massive drop off to any of the other guys. You can make the argument for, you know, four or five more guys that are on the list here. And the guy I'm going to take, I think if we'd gotten to see him start for more than one year, that we would view him in the same level, same pantheon, Kyler Murray.

Yeah, that's who I was referring to. His number is Murray in his one year as Oklahoma starter through for 4,361 yards. he averaged 11.6 yards per attempt. He threw 42 touchdown passes. He also rushed 140 times for 1,000 1 yards, 7.2 yard average and 12 touchdowns. Like, imagine, since we're sliding doorsing it, imagine A&M keeps Kyler Murray, and that version of Kyler Murray emerges as a sophomore at Texas A&M.

And they get two years worth of that before he goes to NFL. Yeah. Yeah, there was a lot of, what ifs you could have made out with Kyle Murray and his time in college because the numbers he, like you just rattled off were ungodly honestly. And the thing is like the rushing yards

he was so good at not taking hits and just sort of ducking out of bounds. It's like a pinball. He probably could have gained more. He just didn't need to. And also he was such a good thrower. He didn't have to run that. You also have to acknowledge too how much of a physical freak you have to be to exist as a

starting NFL quarterback for multiple years at his size. I don't people like to like share like small people. I'm really excited to see him with the Vikings and Kevin O'Connell this year. I'm pumped for that because I think those two together could actually do some really good things. Is he been named a starter? I don't think so, but I'm naming him the starter. Yeah.

Naming him right now because I want to see him throwing those wide out to Justin Jefferson. Come on. Yeah. And that's usually a pretty quarterback friendly place. So we've we've left some really good players. Yep. We mentioned to Sean Watson. Marcus Mariotta was very close.

He was on my list. I was very conflicted picking between Kyler and Marcus Mariotta. Trevor Lawrence. Trevor Lawrence. Stetson Bennett. You could consider it. That's an interesting one. He was on my big board.

He was on my big board. Tua. Tua. Considered. I didn't think you could put a Bama quarterback on there, though. Tua was a really freaking good college quarterback. Yeah, he was. I think what's happened in the NFL.

as well as coloring people's opinion of him. Yeah. Kellyn Moore was on my list. Kellynne Moore was an all-time great college quarterback. Fernando Mendoza, honorable mid-june. Did you guys think about Fernando? A little bit, yeah. It's considered.

A fun pick that a bunch of my buddies wanted me to go with was Timmy Chang. That would be a cool. That would be a great one. Yeah. So a lot of fun ones. There's no Tennessee valls on this list at all. like no balls. Well, there's none who deserved to be honest.

That's true. I'm surprised you didn't take one, but Andy, I'm going to read off the players that were on my big board that weren't taken just out of respect. Okay. Matt Linart. Yep. Zach Wilson. Dog in college.

I know that in the pros, things have changed. My other two that I was considering with the Braxton Miller pick were Troy Smith, Justin Fields, and Kyler. Jaden Daniels. I was going to say nobody said Jaden Daniels yet. That's that's one that we probably, I think we messed up on. Yeah, and I didn't want to be the person who took Jaden Daniels because I didn't want to turn our podcast into a two-hour session of you shaming me for not voting for him for the Heisman.

Did Diego Pavia come up in anybody's thoughts? No, but that's a good choice. And that is a, how about Philip Rivers? Philip Rivers is there, but there's one more here. What about Carson Palmer? Bryce Young, Carson Palmer. Bryce Young's a good one too. But yeah, Carson Palmer, Matt Liner, the two guys who kind of brought the, those USC teams

were so loaded. I think they probably don't get as much credit because they were. And I think that's where you're Tua and Mack Jones and those guys don't get it either. Now, two guys, sorry, two guys are drafted high. I think they were both number one picks. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'll take it out. If not, Jared Gough and Stafford were both number one.

Correct. Both number one overall picks. Both very good in college. Here's one. Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson. Incredible season at Wisconsin after transferring. But he was really good at NC State, too.

Yeah. Geno Smith was really good. I don't know if that was. Oh, here's another one that put up massive numbers in a similar offense. Case Keenham. Yeah, Case Keenham. Good one. Good one.

A lot of good names. We'll get you. You know, here's one last one, and then I'll shut up. Oh, wait, whoa, hold on. We weren't talking numbers. Oh, and I mentioned Red River guys that we didn't consider. Bradford, McCoy. Colt McCoy.

Cole McCoy and San Bradford. Yeah. One last one that was never going to get taken, but was, I believe, now an underrated player, even though he was taken number one overall in the draft, but I wonder how he'll be remembered long term is Cam Ward. Oh, yeah. He had an insanely awesome career. Very a typical one, but he's somebody that,

I would have thought about. So, but success, I don't know who won. I probably made a pick that you guys hate, but I think we will find many people who disagree with every one of our lists and really it will just be your own personal preference who you pick. I don't think anybody's going to look at anybody's list and go, well, this sucks. You really blew it. Like, all of these guys are really good.

Yeah. And, like, I'm like, there will be people who yell at you for the Braxton Miller pick. I think anybody who actually watched him play He just had to be there. Yeah. I was there. Like I saw it. So I saw him,

you remember that one yard touchdown run that he had against Penn State where he like ran backward and juked and everyone over and then he dove over the pile. Like if you saw that in person, you'd get it. And I just remember standing with Urban Meyer who was doing TV. This is when they just finished the 2012 season. and he was doing a guest spot on the ESPN desk before the national title game. So I'm standing with him in that stadium before Alabama plays Notre Dame and watching Alabama warm up. And he said, this is where we got to get to.

We were watching the defensive linemen. And he said, we have to look like this. And that's where you realize, okay, he knows his team's not like that. And they couldn't play in the postseason that year because of NCAA stuff. and it probably worked out for the best. But the reason they were undefeated that year was because of Braxton Miller. Guys, let me show you the playbook of Ohio State's 12, their undefeated 2012 season. Braxton Miller left, Braxton Miller, right.

That was it. The whole season, that was the playbook. So our entire draft list, I'll go ahead and read it off for the podcast listeners. So Ari had the number one pick, and this is his entire team, Cam Newton, Lamar Jackson, Johnny Mansell, Pat White, and Braxton Miller. With me, I had the number two pick, Tim Tebow, Baker Mayfield, Caleb Williams, James, James Winston, and Robert Griffin, the third. And then Andy with the third pick in the first round, Vince Young, Joe Burrow, Andrew Luck,

Patrick Mahomes, and Kyler Murray. It's pretty good list. I like my squad. Good list. The damn strong football team right there. Have a good day. That's right. Have a great day.

Have a great day. Remember, we are off Memorial Day. When we return on Tuesday, I will be indestined for SEC Spring meetings. The coaches will have probably already talked by that point. So we will have a lot to digest when we return on Tuesday. We'll talk to you then. Thank you very much. Have a great day.

Thank you, coach.